Notes on a scorecard: Why the Spurs offense keeps humming along

So after an 11-1 start that ranks as the best in the team’s history, what else is new?

The Spurs sliced through Cleveland for a season-high 32 assists en route to a convincing 116-92 victory over the LeBron James-less Cavs Saturday night.

It was similar to most of the wins for the Spurs this season. San Antonio shot 53.1 percent from the field and 48 percent from 3-point territory.

Saturday’s game was the sixth time during the early season that the Spurs have eclipsed 110 points and eighth time they’ve topped 100 points in their first 12 games.

Compare that to last season, when the Spurs had to wait until a 118-106 victory over Sacramento last Dec. 9 to reach similar levels. That came in San Antonio’s 19th game and was significant at the time because it pushed them to a 10-9 record after spending much of November below .500.

On Nov. 20 last season, the Spurs were 4-6 after already having endured two road losses. This season the Spurs have already won all five road games. They didn’t win their first road game last season until beating Houston on Nov. 27. And they didn’t get their fifth road victory until beating New York last Dec. 27.

Any similarity to that sputtering start is hard to find. And those struggles of last seaason were a huge contrast to the Spurs’ impressive victory over the Cavaliers Saturday night

The Spurs utilized a pivotal run of 19-2 in the fourth quarter to blow the game open, including a 14-0 run after the Cavs had pulled within 89-81 with 9:30 left.

That blitz was noteworthy, but the Spurs will be challenged to duplicate it Monday night when Orlando and the league’s top defensive unit comes to town.

But until then, here are a few nuggets that were gleaned from another impressive Spurs victory.

• One factor that again was impressive was San Antonio’s offensive balance. Six different players scored in double figures, matching a season-high. Tony Parker had 19 to lead them, but easily could have piled up more with additional playing time. Three other players had eight points apiece. Every San Antonio player had at least one assist except for Danny Green. And all of the players scored except for Chris Quinn. It was a night to showcase the firepower in the San Antonio lineup as the Spurs piled up their most points in a game this season.

• Gregg Popovich did a nice job of managing his roster Saturday night. No Spur played more than 28 minutes with Parker and George Hill both reaching that level. None of the other starters played more than 27 minutes. And Tim Duncan played only 17:12 in his shortest stint of the season after his big night Friday in Utah. That rest, as well as skipping practice on Sunday, should leave them in good shape for their game Monday night against Orlando.

• Parker’s 19 points snapped a string of five consecutive games with at least 20 points. He also added nine assists as he continues to show his strong production since three seasons ago when he averaged a career-best 22 points a game. And it hasn’t mattered on the opposing guard he’s playing. Mo Williams is a small, quick point guard and Parker diced him up like most of the others he’s played this season. He’s been the Spurs Most Valuable Player so far.

• Tiago Splitter had a strong game with 18 points and five rebounds that showcase many facets of his talents. There was his inside presence with a couple of nice dunks. He played some strong defense with two blocked shots and he probably could have been credited with a couple of more. He showed his toughness when he bounced off the deck after he was hammered by Ryan Hollins on a flagrant-two foul. And he showed resiliency with this kind of game after two consecutive “Did Not Play” games. It’s a good step in his early development. Splitter will need to continued it as the season progresses.

• Matt Bonner bounced back from his one game 0-for-6 clankfest to have a strong offensive game. Bonner drilled 4 of 7 3-pointers against the Cavs, opening the Spurs inside with his bombs from the perimeter. He also grabbed four rebounds and showed little effects of the back spasms that had hampered him in Utah.

• I’m starting to like Gary Neal’s game more every night I watch him. Earlier, it was his shooting and rebounding. He went for 10 points Saturday night. But I really liked his passing with a couple of sweet assists that led to easy baskets. But the question will be if he can maintain his quick start — as Roger MasonJr. before him couldn’t do.

• After a miserable 1-for-10 shooting night against Oklahoma City last week, Hill has bounced back with his most consistent shooting of the season. Over his last three games, Hill has hit 10 of 18 shots and averaged 9.3 points per game. He also looks confident when he’s spotting up for his jumper — unlike earlier this season.

• Green had the kind of game you would expect from a new 12th man on the roster trying to show his coaches what he can do. Green was 2-for-4 from 3-point territory in eight minutes, but his shot-per-minute ratio was the highest on the team.

• The Spurs had a season-low 10 turnovers that led to only seven points. They forced 17 turnovers they were able to turn into 20 points.

• Maybe there are more Texas A&M and Baylor football fans among Spurs fans than I thought. But here’s something that left me scratching my head, considering typical attendance patterns and the Spurs’ quick start . You would have thought that a team playing its best basketball in more than two years playing on a Saturday night would have no trouble packing its arena. But not so for the Spurs, who attracted a season-low 16,982 fans to the game Saturday night.

After drawing sellouts for the first two games against Indiana and New Orleans, the Spurs failed to sell out in their next three games before drawing a capacity crowd against Chicago last Wednesday. Saturday night’s attendance was the first time the Spurs failed to attract at least 17,000.

But I would expect that to change Monday night when Dwight Howard and the Magic come to town. And if they don’t sell out for that game, there might be something tremendously significant in that trend.